35 Blood of Calth (VII, 4k)

004. M31, Calth Ground, Leptis Numinus.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Van Cleef," said Marius Gage. "We're in a palace, and you've brought gifts, but unfortunately I can't offer you any wine."

He reached out and took the head from Van Cleef's hand, examining it closely.

He seemed to be laughing, blood dripping down his gauntlet. Hall Bellows's head, with its eyes wide open in death, had a piece of skin peeled off his forehead with a blade, and the Night Lords mark was carved into the flesh.

Marius Gage finally burst into laughter.

"My skills are a bit rusty," Van Cleef told him, removing his helmet. "I didn't have to skin him, but he struggled quite a bit, and I didn't control my strength well enough, so the blade pierced his flesh."

Can I learn how?

"No, Gage." Van Cleef smiled and shook his head. "I didn't carve that mark to torment him."

Marius Gage nodded to him, indicating that he understood, and asked no further questions. He turned and led Van Cleef down into the ground.

The Word Bearers' attack ceased, and the warriors in the palace finally began to catch their breath. Everyone was covered in wounds, and some Ultramarines' armor paint had been worn away. Bullet holes, sword marks, severed arms, or faces covered in scars—blood was everywhere.

They huddled together, the Ultramarines and Midnight Blade standing side by side, Imperial Army and Secutarii checking each other's health. Gage had few medical personnel left; they only had one Apothecary. Fortunately, Van Cleef had brought three squads with him.

Of the three thousand people in total, some were lost, but two thousand one hundred and twenty-three still survived. The dense fog was a great help to them.

The Night Lords' medics and Apothecary began to rush to treat the injured—in fact, to treat everyone, since no one was uninjured and everyone was bleeding.

Van Cleef and Marius Gage entered the palace's underground chambers. They remained silent, neither of them speaking first, until Gage led Van Cleef to an array of Cogitator.

"Why did you come?" Gage asked, standing beside the ranks of the Cogitator.

"The Primarch's fate," Van Cleef explained briefly. "Let's talk about something else. We've sent four large companies, a full complement of 10,000 men. Of those, 35,000 have been deployed to the ground for combat, and another 5,000 remain in orbit. We have a battleship and an entire escort fleet. While they won't be of much help in the Void Wars, they're better than nothing."

"Invaluable," Gage said solemnly. "Now it's my turn. I've activated the backup communications network beneath Leptis Numinus, broadcasting globally. If anyone receives it, we'll get a response. Based on this, we can rebuild Calth's surface network and contact the surviving surface forces."

He finished speaking slowly, finally revealing a hint of fatigue.

Van Cleef couldn't help but notice that the Chapter Master's left eye was completely bloodshot, and his nose was broken. There were probably more injuries hidden beneath his armor.

"Why not try to establish contact with the Macragge's Honour first?" he asked. "If we could get Roboute Guilliman's voice on your global broadcasts, it would surely be of great help to the current situation."

"Electromagnetic signal disruption," Gage explained simply. "I have a solution, but it requires us to advance to the nearest watchtower; otherwise, it's impossible to break through this damned electromagnetic storm. In my opinion, we'd better take it one step at a time."

Van Cleef nodded to him and began to tell him about the intelligence he had on his side.

"We initially landed in Prolo City, where the communications center has been recaptured. We made contact there with Company Commander Ventanus, who is near the Astartes assembly point in Rude Province. I've already sent two detachments to assist, and we might now have two nodes."

Gage turned around and smiled at a man with a missing hand, "You heard that, Director Terrence, it's time for you to lend a hand again."

"Understood, sir," Terrence said. "But I really wish we had a technician or server to replace me right now."

He walked to the control port of the Cogitator array and began to operate it using the most primitive manual input method.

Although he complained, there was nothing wrong with his complaint.

If any member of the Mechanicum were here, they could have done the job ten times faster. However, Terrence was also quite fast, and he knew this wasn't his achievement.

Twelve minutes later, as Gage was being examined by a Night Lords medic, Terrence gave him and Van Cleef the news. It was rather encouraging, for both of them.

"Communication connection established!" the security chief shouted from behind the control panel. "Connecting! Identity code verification successful, decrypting. Decryption successful, confirmed as Company Commander Nered Ventanus!"

Gage immediately stood up and went to the front of the Cogitator array. A few seconds later, accompanied by a hoarse and hissing electrical sound, Ventanus's voice came from the Cogitator array's external communication components.

"This is Nered Ventanus, Chapter Master. Can you hear me?"

Gage raised his hands, as if he were about to do something, moved them in the air for a moment, and then let them fall down to his sides.

"It's so good to hear your voice, Ventanus," Gage said.

--

004. M31, Calth, eastern urban area communications center of Rude Province.

"Me too, Chapter Master," said Nered Ventanus. "I thought..."

What do you think?

"Nothing much, Chapter Master. I need to report on the situation. Our forces deployed in Rude Province have suffered heavy casualties. From the very beginning of the war, the Word Bearers attacked all major army assembly points. They seem to have some way of quickly reaching the ground, and some of them—"

Ventanus stopped speaking, turned to look at Shen standing next to him, and offered him the microphone.

"--Hello, Chapter Master Marius. This is Shen, the captain of the first squadron of the Fourth Company of Night Lords. I'm speaking on behalf of Ventanus. He's unable to accurately convey the following intelligence."

"Some of the Word Bearers have been infused with the evil power of the Warp; they are no longer Astartes, but entities beyond rational cognition."

Ventanus looked at him seriously and nodded. Shen paused for a moment before continuing his story.

"I'll repeat myself in existing terms: they've been possessed by Daemon. Compared to conventional weapons like bombs or plasma, they're much more vulnerable to blades and Phosphex flames. Furthermore, the Word Bearers possess Titans, which they've deployed to the ground. The exact number is currently unknown, but I've seen at least six Warhound-class."

"Understood, thank you for the intelligence, Captain Shen," Marius Gage said. "By the way, you sound exactly like an Ultramarines; I almost thought it was Ventanus speaking to me."

"Many people say that."

"I didn't say that." Van Cleef's hoarse voice came from the other end, and Shen's expression turned slightly surprised.

He exchanged a glance with Ventanus, and after obtaining completely unnecessary permission, he picked up the microphone and asked again, "Is this the company commander?"

"Yes, it's me," Van Cleef said. His voice was very hoarse due to distance and signal interference, much lower than when he spoke normally.

"We have rendezvoused with Chapter Master Marius. Our next objective is to proceed to the watchtower on the plains outside Leptis Numinus to restore communications between the ground and orbit."

"Understood," Shen said. "I will fight alongside Ventanus; we will attempt to clear all the Word Bearers from Rude Province."

"Received. How many troops do you have?" Marius Gage asked.

"A total of two thousand seven hundred and eight men," Ventanus replied calmly. "Captain Shen helped us; this is all the fighting force I've gathered in the eastern district. It includes nine hundred and twenty-three Ultramarines, five hundred and seventy-two Secutarii, and two Imperial Army companies, totaling one thousand two hundred and thirteen men."

"If we include us, that makes three thousand five hundred and fifty-seven people," Shen added.

"Understood," Gage said. "Good luck."

The communication ended, Ventanus began issuing orders to his Techmarine. Shen waited patiently for a while, and then they walked out of the communications center side by side.

The area outside was littered with corpses: civilians, Cultists, army soldiers, Secutarii, Ultramarines, Word Bearers, and Midnight Blade.

Some soldiers began collecting the bodies and burning the traitors' corpses. Apothecary began collecting seeds and searching for usable weapons. The sky was shattered, and moonlight shone faintly through the thick clouds. Ventanus realized that seven hours had passed since the start of the battle.

He put on a helmet he had found and took a deep breath inside. Through the half-broken goggles, Shen saw a pair of bloodshot eyes. He didn't speak, but simply gazed quietly into the distance. A few minutes later, a messenger ran towards them, breaking the silence.

"Sirs," he saluted, his face contorted with rage, the Imperial Army insignia on the right breast of his uniform charred black. "Sergeant Serradon asked me to report that he captured a Word Bearers in front of the Guildhouse, and the Whisperer has surrendered."

"Surrender?" Ventanus asked from inside his helmet, his voice hoarse, not from the help of the breathing grille. A few minutes later, they arrived at the guild's main building.

Ultramarines Sergeant Ziuz Seradon of the Fourth Company stood amidst ruins, a massive fire burning behind him, filled with the corpses of Word Bearers and traitors.

Five Ultramarines stood beside him, each wielding Boltgun. A Word Bearers knelt before him, his hands bound, his face as red as his armor, without a helmet.

Ventanus walked over, kicked him to the ground, and then drew his finely crafted Power Sword.

"Company commander!" His sergeant quickly grabbed him. "He surrendered voluntarily!"

"So?!" Ventanus roared. "I swore an oath to kill every Word Bearers I ever saw!"

The Word Bearers fell to the ground and began to chuckle, "Then you can start now, come on."

Ventanus held his sword, looked at him for a moment, and then sheathed the sword.

The traitor kept looking up at him, his eyes filled with longing. Ventanus didn't miss this detail; he dug deeper and eventually discovered one thing—this Word Bearers longed for death.

Why?

The fourth company commander maintained his anger and began to ask coldly in a low voice, "What's your name?"

"Pal Kshir," the traitor replied gracefully. "Incidentally, I was the one who commanded the attack on Rude Province."

Ventanus swung his right fist, striking him hard in the face, then continued to ask, "What is your purpose?"

"Shouldn't you treat prisoners humanely, Ultramarines?" Pal spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with his teeth and grinned. "That doesn't seem to align with the humanitarian spirit of you Ultramarines idealists."

"I have no reason to talk about human rights with something that isn't human. You haven't been human for a long time, Word Bearers. I've seen what's hidden inside you, I've seen your true faces." Ventanus swung his right fist again. "You're not human, you're just a beast."

The Word Bearers laughed, then leaned back and lay on the ruins, spitting out a second mouthful of blood as Shen approached him from behind. "Hello, Midnight Blade."

Shen stared at him expressionlessly.

"To be honest, I'm very pleased with your arrival," the Word Bearers said with a smile. "If it weren't for you, Rude Province would have been completely destroyed by my troops by now. We would have sacrificed every single one of them alive, and made them suffer as much as possible before they died."

He winked meaningfully at Shen.

"This will greatly benefit what we are about to do. However, the current situation is not unacceptable to us. Do you know that my Primarch Lorgar, has left? With the main force."

He emphasized the word "large army" very much.

"You launched an attack on the entire territory of Calth. Even if you seized the initiative through despicable means, you would still need at least 100,000 men to achieve this goal," Shen finally spoke, his voice extremely cold. "How many people do you have in total to support your so-called large force? It's all bluff."

The Word Bearers shook his head meaningfully. "You—ha."

He straightened up, Ventanus, enraged by his mockery, placed his hand on his sword again.

Pal Kersher lowered his head, took a deep breath, and began to smile with his head down.

"I don't have much time left, so I'll keep it brief."

His face began to change, black blood flowed from his seven orifices, he vomited blood, and his voice began to sound like a mumble.

"Our power is beyond your imagination, Night Lords. Do you know where our main force is? And you, Ultramarines, do you know what's happening in orbit right now?"

Ventanus remained silent, only slowly drawing his sword. At the same time, the Word Bearers's body began to deform.

His armor bulged like human skin, and something surged and roared beneath it. Ventanus drew his sword, but Shen was faster, piercing the Word Bearers's head with a fighting dagger, but this still could not stop what was about to happen.

No one could stop it, because it happened too early. It came from the very beginning of time, from the darkness that no one could see.

Pal Kersir began to laugh loudly, a laugh so shrill it sounded unlike his own, almost like something else entirely. The Ultramarines opened fire, Ventanus beheaded him with a single blow.

During the bloody execution, something slowly rose from the corpse of the Word Bearers and rapidly grew. Dark clouds obscured the sky, the moonlight vanished, and a creature began to grin at them.

"Samus." It chuckled softly. "Samus's here."

Update complete.